- •Contents
- •Foreword
- •Part I stylistics as a branch of lingustics. The subject of stylistics
- •1.1. Stylistics and its subject
- •1.2. Expressive Means and Stylistic Devices
- •Part II stylisctic classification of the english vocabulary
- •1. The literary layer falls into the following groups:
- •2. The neutral layer, universal, unrestricted in its use, the most stable.
- •3. The colloquial layer falls into the following groups:
- •2.2. Neutral, Common literary and common colloquial vocabulary
- •2.3. Literary stratum of words. Special literary vocabulary
- •2.3.1. Terms
- •2.3.2. Poetic words
- •2.3.3. Archaic words
- •2.3.4. Literary coinages (including nonce-words)
- •2.3.5. Barbarisms and Foreign Words
- •6. Terms
- •Part III stylistic classification of the english vocalbulary Colloquial stratum of words. Special colloquial vocabulary
- •3.1 Slang
- •3.2. Jargonisms
- •3.3. Professionalisms
- •3.4. Dialectal words
- •3.5. Vulgar words or vulgarisms
- •3.6. Colloquial coinages (nonce words)
- •Part IV functional styles of the english language
- •4.1. The notion of Style
- •5. The style of official documents:
- •4.2. Bookish Style
- •4.2.3. Scientific prose style
- •4.2.4. The style of official documents
- •4.2.5. The publicistic style
- •4.2.6. The newspaper style
- •4.2.7. Belles-lettres style
- •4.3. Colloquial (casual) style
- •7) Hyperbole;
- •Further reading
- •Part V types of meaning
- •5.1. Logical meaning
- •5.2. Emotive meaning
- •5.3. Nominal meaning
- •Part VI lexical expressive means and stylistic devices sd based on the interaction of different meanings of a word
- •6.1. Sd based on the interaction between two logical meanings of a word. Metaphor. Personification. Metonymy. Irony
- •6.1.1. Metaphor
- •6.1.2. Personification
- •6.1.3. Metonymy
- •6.1.4. Irony
- •6.2. Sd based on interaction between the logical and nominal meanings. Antomasia
- •6.3.1. Epithet
- •6.3.2. Hyperbole
- •6.3.3. Oxymoron
- •6.4. Stylistic devices based on the interaction between primary and derivative logical meaning of a word (or between the meanings of two homonyms)
- •Part VII lexico-syntactical stylistic devices
- •Part VIII syntactical expressive means and sd
- •Inversion
- •Interaction of Syntactical Structures
- •Part IX phonetic expressive means and stylistic devices
- •I. Language variation
- •1. The English language today
- •2. Types of variation
- •2.1. Regional variation
- •2.2. Social Variation
- •2.3. Personal variation
- •2.4. Stylistic variation
- •Part XI text as the object of linguistic analysis in stylistics
- •22. Oxymoron
- •Questions for revision
- •Exam questions
- •46. The publicistic style.
- •47. The newspaper style.
- •48. Scientific prose style.
- •Glossary
- •Reference books
6.3.3. Oxymoron
Oxymoron also belongs to this group of stylistic devices. It usually produces a strong emotional effect on the reader, and brings out the author's subjective evaluation of the phenomenon. Oxymoron consists of an attributive group, ex. honest traitor.
The members of these free combinations are forcibly linked in an attributive group forming one notion though they are contradictory in essence. In these linked combinations one of the component parts is sometimes used as a metaphor. Oxymoron can be expressed in English by:
1) adjectives + noun
2) adverb+ adjective -pleasantly ugly, proudly weak
3) adverb + verb - to growl kindly
4) adjective + a prepositional phrase "in a way', ex ugly in a pleasant way
Oxymoron cannot be regarded as a phraseological unit because it is not reproduced in speech but always built anew. When an oxymoron acquires the characteristics of a phraseological unit as in the phrase "awfully nice" it ceases to be an oxymoron, the word "awfully" having become a synonym for "very" in colloquial speech.
Such oxymorons as "awfully nice", "pretty nasty" are practically speaking dead oxymorons which do not contain the interaction between the logical and emotive meanings.
The principle stylistic function of oxymoron is to show the contradictory features of a phenomenon and thus to disclose the author's subjective emotional attitude towards it. Sometimes the stylistic function of the oxymoron is to show the varying opinions concerning one and the same phenomenon.
Consider your answers to the following questions:
1. What causes the development of new meanings?
2. What is the basis of development or change of meaning? Explain what we mean by the term transference?
3. What types of transference can you name?
4. What is meant by the widening and the narrowing of the meaning?
5. What is the stylistic function of Irony?
6. What is the difference between zeugma and pun?
7. What is the difference between zeugma and semantically false chain?
8. What is the difference between metaphor and metonymy?
6.4. Stylistic devices based on the interaction between primary and derivative logical meaning of a word (or between the meanings of two homonyms)
The main stylistic function of these SD is to create humorous effect. Here belong:
1) Zeugma - a special stylistic device which makes a word materialize two distinct dictionary meanings. Zeugma is the use of a word in the same grammatical but different semantic relations to two adjacent words in a context. The semantic relations are literal on the one hand and transferred on the other hand.
Ex. "Sally", said Mr. Bentley in a voice almost as low as his intentions, "let's go out to the kitchen "
Zeugma is particularly favored in English emotive prose and in poetry. Zeugma is a strong and effective device to maintain the purity of the primary of the primary meaning when the two meanings two clash. By making the two meanings obvious in this particular way, each of them stands out clearly.
2) Pun is another SD based on the interaction of two well-known meanings of a word or phrase. The role of the context is similar to that of zeugma, while the structure is changed, for the central word is repeated. It is difficult to draw a hard and fast distinction between zeugma and pun. The only reliable distinguishing feature is a structural one: zeugma is a realization of two meanings with the help of a verb which is made to refer to different subjects or objects. The pun is more independent. There might be no word in the sentence to which pun refers. This doesn't mean however that the pun is entirely free. Like any other stylistic device it must depend on a context. But the context may be of a more expanded character, sometimes even as large as a whole work of emotive prose.
3) Semantically false chain - extended context prepares the reader for the realization of a word in one contextual meaning when unexpectedly appears a semantically alien element forcing the second contextual meaning upon central word. Structurally it presents a chain of homogenious members, belonging to non relating semantic fields but linked to the same kernel (суть, значение), which due to them is realized in two of its meanings simultaneously.
4) Violation of phraseological units - occurs when the bound phraseological meanings of the components of the unit are disregarded and intentionally replaced by their original literal meanings.